Lens system

Abstract

A lens system includes a positive refractive power first lens, a negative refractive power third lens, and a negative refractive power second lens in that order from the object side of the lens system. Wherein the lens system satisfies the following conditions: (1) D/TTL>1.2; (2) 4.5>R1R/R1F>2.2; and (3) f/R1F>3, wherein, D is the diameter of a maximal image circle of the lens system on a image plane of the lens system, TTL is a distance from a surface of the first lens facing the object side of the lens system to the image plane, R1R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the first lens facing the image side of the lens system, R1F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the first lens facing the object side of the lens system, and f is a focal length of the lens system.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to a copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/940,905 filed Nov. 15, 2007 entitled "Lens system" with the same assignee. The disclosure of the above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a lens system and, particularly, to a compact lens system having a small number of lens components and a short overall length.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Conventionally, there is a technical field of lenses where a short overall length is demanded for use in lens modules for image acquisition that are mounted in relatively thin equipment, such as simple digital cameras, webcams for personal computers, and portable imaging systems in general. In order to satisfy this demand, previous imaging lenses have been formed using a one-piece lens construction. Because the electronic image sensing chips previously used with the lens modules were compact and had low resolution, maintaining a small image size on the image sensing chips and miniaturizing the lens systems with a small number of lens components was a priority. In previous arrangements, even with one-piece lens construction, aberrations were acceptable and the incident angle of light rays onto the image sensing chip was not so large as to be a problem.

However, in recent years, because the resolution and the size of the image sensing chips have increased, aberrations occurring in one-piece lenses are too large to achieve the desired optical performance. Therefore, it has become necessary to develop a lens system with a short overall length and with an optical performance that matches image sensing chips having enhanced resolution and size.

What is needed, therefore, is a lens system with a short overall length and with relatively good optical performance.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one present embodiment, a lens system includes a positive refractive power first lens, a negative refractive power second lens, a negative refractive power third lens in that order from the object side of the lens system. Wherein the lens system satisfies the following conditions: D/TTL>1.2; (1) 4.5>R1R/R1F>2.2; and (2) f/R1F>3, (3) wherein, D is the diameter of a maximal image circle of the lens system on a image plane of the lens system, TTL is a distance from a surface of the first lens facing the object side of the lens system to the image plane, R1R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the first lens facing the image side of the lens system, R1F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the first lens facing the object side of the lens system, and f is a focal length of the lens system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Many aspects of the present lens system can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawing are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present lens system. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a lens system in accordance with an embodiment.

FIGS. 2-4 are graphs respectively showing spherical aberration, field curvature, and distortion for a lens system in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5-7 are graphs respectively showing spherical aberration, field curvature, and distortion for a lens system in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments will now be described in detail below, with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a lens system 100, according to an embodiment, is shown. The lens system 100 includes a positive refractive power first lens 10, a negative refractive power second lens 20, and a negative refractive power third lens 30 in that order from the object side of the lens system 100. The lens system 100 can be used in digital cameras, mobile phones, personal computer cameras and so on. The lens system 100 can be used for capturing images by disposing an image sensor at an image plane 40 of the lens system 100.

In order that the lens system 100 has a short overall length and excellent optical performance, the lens system 100 satisfies the following conditions: D/TTL>1.2; (1) 4.5>R1R/R1F>2.2; and (2) f/R1F>3, (3) wherein, D is the diameter of a maximal image circle of the lens system 100 on the image plane 40, TTL is a distance from a surface of the first lens 10 facing the object side of the lens system 100 to the image plane 40, R1R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the first lens 10 facing the image side of the lens system 100, R1F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the first lens 10 facing the object side of the lens system 100, and f is a focal length of the lens system 100. The first condition (1) is for limiting the overall length of the lens system 100 by providing the relationship between the overall length of the lens system 100 and the diameter of a maximal image circle of the lens system on 100 on the image plane 40. The second condition (2) is for limiting the refractive power of the first lens 10 in order to satisfy the requirement of the refractive power of the lens system 100. The third condition (3) is used for making the TTL satisfy the first condition (1). In the present embodiment, the first lens 10 is a meniscus-shaped lens with a convex surface facing the object side of the lens system 100. Preferably, the two surfaces of the first lens 10 are aspherical.

Preferably, the second lens 20 also satisfies the following condition: -1>R2F>R2R, (4) wherein, R2R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the second lens 20 facing the image side of the lens system 100, and R2F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the second lens 20 facing the object side of the lens system 100. The fourth condition (4) is for limiting the refractive power of the second lens 20 in order to correct aberrations, especially spherical aberration, caused by the first lens 10. The second lens 20 is a meniscus-shaped lens with a convex surface facing the image side of the lens system 100. Preferably, the two surfaces of the second lens 20 are aspherical.

Preferably, the third lens 30 also satisfies the following condition: 2>R3F/R3R>1, (5) wherein, R3R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the third lens 30 facing the image side of the lens system 100, and R3F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the third lens 30 facing the object side of the lens system 100. The fifth condition (5) is for limiting the refractive power of the third lens 30 in order to correct aberrations, especially field curvature, caused by the first lens 10. The third lens 30 is a meniscus-shaped lens with a convex surface facing the object side of the lens system 100. Preferably, the two surfaces of the third lens 30 are aspherical.

Also, in order to appropriately correct chromatic aberration of the lens system 100, the Abbe constant .nu.1 of the first lens 10 and the Abbe constant .nu.2 of the second lens 20 preferably satisfy the following conditions: v1>55; and (6) v2<35. (7)

The lens system 100 further includes an aperture stop 50 and a infrared filter 60. The aperture stop 50 is arranged between the first lens 10 and the second lens 20 in order to reduce light flux into the second lens 20. For further cost reduction, the aperture stop 50 is preferably formed directly on the surface of the first lens 10 facing the image side of the lens system 100. In practice, a portion of the surface of the first lens 10 through which light rays should not be transmitted is coated with an opaque material, such as black material, which functions as the aperture stop 50. The infrared filter 60 is arranged between the third lens 30 and the image plane 40 for filtering infrared rays coming into the lens system 100.

Further, the first lens 10, the second lens 20, and the third lens 30 can be made from a resin or a plastic, which makes their manufacture relatively easy and inexpensive.

Examples of the system will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2-7. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these examples. The following are symbols used in each exemplary embodiment.

f: focal length of the lens system 100

FNo: F number

2.omega.: field angle

R: radius of curvature

d: distance between surfaces on the optical axis of the system

Nd: refractive index of lens

.nu.: Abbe constant

In each example, both surfaces of the first lens 10, both surfaces of the second lens 20, and both surfaces of the third lens 30 are aspherical. The shape of each aspheric surface is provided by expression 1 below. Expression 1 is based on a Cartesian coordinate system, with the vertex of the surface being the origin, and the optical axis extending from the vertex being the x-axis.

Expression 1:

.times..times..times..times. ##EQU00001## wherein, h is a height from the optical axis to the surface, c is a vertex curvature, k is a conic constant, and A.sub.i are i-th order correction coefficients of the aspheric surfaces.

EXAMPLE 1

Tables 1 and 2 show lens data of Example 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 f = 3.52 mm FNo = 3.2 2.omega. = 68.degree. Diameter Lens system 100 R (mm) d (mm) Nd .nu. (mm) Object infinite 1000 1.543 56.04 Object side surface of the 1.018 0.69 1.543 56.04 first lens 10 Image side surface of the 2.508 0.4 1.543 56.04 first lens 10 Object side surface of the -1.128 0.48 1.585 29.9 second lens 20 Image side surface of the -1.505 0.52 1.585 29.9 second lens 20 Object side surface of the 4.18 0.75 1.543 56.04 third lens 30 Image side surface of the 2.665 0.11 1.543 56.04 third lens 30 Object side surface of the infinite 0.4 infrared filter 60 Image side surface of the infinite 0.64 infrared filter 60 Image plane 40 infinite 4.84

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Object side Image side Object side Image side Object side Image side surface of the surface of the surface of the surface of the surface of the surface of the Surface first lens 10 first lens 10 second lens 20 second lens 20 third lens 30 third lens 30 Aspherical A2 = 0.706 A2 = 3.047 A2 = 2.872 A2 = 0.915 A2 = 68.107 A2 = 25.984 coefficient A4 = 0.1063 A4 = 0.0618 A4 = 0.05480 A4 = 0.08332 A4 = 0.14744 A4 = 0.07475 A6 = 0.0721 A6 = 0.0018 A6 = 0.47247 A6 = 0.14948 A6 = 0.06216 A6 = 0.01295 A8 = 0.0793 A8 = 0.6732 A8 = 0.50517 A8 = 0.23976 A8 = 0.00413 A8 = 0.00727 A10 = 0.0321 A10 = 0.1987 A10 = 3.74357 A10 = 0.13059 A10 = 0.00694 A10 = 0.00284 A12 = 0.00107 A12 = 0.00035

FIGS. 2-4 are graphs of aberrations (spherical aberration, field curvature, and distortion) of the lens system 100 of Example 1. In FIG. 2, the curves c, d, and f show spherical aberration of the lens system 100 corresponding to three types of light with wavelength of 656.3 nm, 587.6 nm, and 435.8 nm respectively. Generally, the spherical aberration of lens system 100 is limited to a range from -0.04 mm to 0.04 mm, the field curvature of the lens system 100 is limited to a range from -0.05 mm to 0.05 mm, and the distortion of the lens system 100 is limited to a range from -2% to 2%.

EXAMPLE 2

Tables 3 and 4 show lens data of Example 2.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 f = 3.43 mm FNo = 3.2 2.omega. = 68.4.degree. Diameter Lens system 100 R (mm) d (mm) Nd .nu. (mm) Object infinite 1000 Object side surface of the 1.033 0.63 1.543 56.04 first lens 10 Image side surface of the 2.89 0.42 1.543 56.04 first lens 10 Object side surface of the -1.04 0.46 1.585 29.9 second lens 20 Image side surface of the -1.355 0.51 1.585 29.9 second lens 20 Object side surface of the 3.75 0.72 1.543 56.04 third lens 30 Image side surface of the 2.27 0.11 1.543 56.04 third lens 30 Object side surface of the infinite 0.4 infrared filter 60 Image side surface of the infinite 0.635 infrared filter 60 Image plane 40 infinite 4.71

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Object side Image side Object side Image side Object side Image side surface of the surface of the surface of the surface of the surface of the surface of the Surface first lens 10 first lens 10 second lens 20 second lens 20 third lens 30 third lens 30 Aspherical A2 = 0.771 A2 = 7.297 A2 = 2.203 A2 = 0.789 A2 = 81.623 A2 = 25.962 coefficient A4 = 0.1109 A4 = 0.0452 A4 = 0.0644 A4 = 0.07905 A4 = 0.15733 A4 = 0.07717 A6 = 0.0288 A6 = 0.0196 A6 = 0.68238 A6 = 0.21234 A6 = 0.06992 A6 = 0.01388 A8 = 0.1906 A8 = 1.0076 A8 = 0.89015 A8 = 0.33342 A8 = 0.00483 A8 = 0.00854 A10 = 0.1720 A10 = 1.0933 A10 = 4.89037 A10 = 0.15324 A10 = 0.00857 A10 = 0.00348 A12 = 0.00139 A12 = 0.00045

FIGS. 5-7 are graphs of aberrations (spherical aberration, field curvature, and distortion) of the lens system 100 of Example 1. In FIG. 5, the curve c, d, and f show spherical aberration of the lens system 100 corresponding to three types of light with wavelength of 656.3 nm, 587.6 nm, and 435.8 nm respectively. Generally, the spherical aberration of lens system 100 is limited to a range from -0.04 mm to 0.04 mm, the field curvature of the lens system 100 is limited to a range from -0.05 mm to 0.05 mm, and the distortion of the lens system 100 is limited to a range from -2% to 2%.

As seen in the above-described examples, the distortion of the lens system 100 can also be limited to a range from -2% to 2% when keeping the field angle of the lens system bigger than 60.degree.. The overall length of the lens system 100 is small, and the system 100 appropriately corrects fundamental aberrations.

While certain embodiments have been described and exemplified above, various other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing disclosure. The present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described and exemplified but is capable of considerable variation and modification without departure from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A lens system comprising, in the order from the object side: a positive refractive power first lens; a negative refractive power second lens; and a negative refractive power third lens, wherein the lens system satisfies the following conditions: D/TTL>1.2; (1) 4.5>R1R/R1F>2.2; and (2) f/R1F>3, (3) wherein, D is the diameter of a maximal image circle of the lens system on an image plane of the lens system, TTL is a distance from a surface of the first lens facing the object side of the lens system to the image plane, R1R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the first lens facing the image side of the lens system, R1F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the first lens facing the object side of the lens system, and f is a focal length of the lens system.

2. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied: (4)-1>R2F>R2R, wherein R2R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the second lens facing the image side of the lens system, and R2F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the second lens facing the object side of the lens system.

3. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied: (5) 2>R3F/R3R>1, wherein R3R is the radius of curvature of a surface of the third lens facing the image side of the lens system, and R3F is the radius of curvature of the surface of the third lens facing the object side of the lens system.

4. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Abbe constant .nu.1 of the first lens and the Abbe constant .nu.2 of the second lens satisfy the following conditions: (6) .nu.1>55; and (7) .nu.2<35.

5. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lens system further comprises an aperture stop arranged between the first lens and the second lens.

6. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aperture stop is formed directly on the surface of the first lens facing the image side of the lens system.

7. The lens system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the aperture stop is formed by coating a peripheral portion of the surface of the first lens with an opaque material.

8. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lens system further comprises an infrared filter arranged between the third lens and the image plane.

9. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first lens is a meniscus-shaped lens with a convex surface facing the object side of the lens system.

10. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second lens is a meniscus-shaped lens with a convex surface facing the image side of the lens system.

11. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the third lens is a meniscus-shaped lens with a convex surface facing the object side of the lens system.

12. The lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first lens, the second lens and the third lens is an aspheric lens.